mass casualty incident. >> it was a rough scene to see. i mean, you know, when i arrived on scene, there was children laying all over the place. >> a teacher and a student killed. 43 others injured when a bus full of middle schoolers headed for a field trip collides with a dump truck. a big eruption for hawaii, but yesterday's episode may be a preview of what's ahead. a real life fairy tale started by his parents. harry and meghan are one day away from creating their own story book life together. pieces of american rock royalty go on sale as some of prince's most prized possessions hit the auction block. "early today" starts right now. good friday morning. i'm phillip mena. >> i'm frances rivera. dozens of children are fighting

for their lives in surgery following a catastrophic crash. a community is reeling after a school bus packed with middle school students returning from a field trip violently collided with a dump truck on a major new jersey highway. the force of the crash completely ripping off the undercarriage of the bus, leaving a student and a teacher dead and 43 others injured. >> investigators are combing through the wreckage trying to determine where it all went wrong. nbc's kristen dahlgren has the latest. >> reporter: the images are haunting. a crash so severe the bus separated from its wheels, tossing students. >> a lot of people were screaming, and they were like hanging from their seat belts. >> reporter: 11-year-old theo was on the bus filled with his fifth grade classmates from par am us, new jersey, excited about a field trip. >> we were going to waterloo village and one of the trucks behind us got hit as we toppled

over the middle part of the highway. >> reporter: the bus collided with a dump truck. >> mass casualty incident. >> reporter: a teacher and a student killed. 43 injured, some critically. >> people got out of the windows, and they got out of the emergency exit on the top. >> it was a rough scene to see. i mean, you know, when i arrived on scene, there was children laying all over the place. >> reporter: as the students and chaperones were rushed to the hospital, parents started getting calls. >> it's pretty chaotic because people are scrambling to get their kids. >> reporter: east brooke middle school dismissed early. for many parents, reunions bringing relief. >> as soon as i saw her, i just grabbed her because you don't know. you just don't know. >> reporter: an investigation is under way, but for some families, there is only heartache. kristen dahlgren, nbc news, pa ram us, new jersey. developing this morning, police in las vegas are searching for a man who caused a major scare in a city still on edge. police evacuated boulevard mall last night after reports of an active shooter. no shots were fired but

investigators say they have video of an individual who they believe was armed with a long gun. the suspect did not make any known threats, and right now remains at large. last night's scare comes just seven months after the las vegas strip was the scene of the deadliest mass shooting in u.s. history. hawaii's big island had a rude awakening when the kilauea volcano erupted yet again. the pre-dawn explosion at the summit was the biggest yet, spewing a tower of choking ash six miles high. the plumes of smoke so massive, they're even seen some space. you see these images here captured by two astronauts aboard the international space station. 21 fissures have split open since the volcano first erupted on may 3rd. lava flows and emissions of toxic sulfur gas are keeping nearly 2,000 people out of their homes. dozens of homes have been destroyed. officials have been fearing a big one coming for days but they say this latest eruption was not it, and it is far from over. next national correspondent miguel almaguer is there

watching it all unfold. >> reporter: after warning signs kilauea would blow, it happened. the eruption spitting rocks into the air, shooting a massive plume of smoke and ash 30,000 feet. >> we may have additional larger events, more powerful events kind of like what we saw earlier this morning. >> reporter: the eruptions come after two weeks of volcanic activity. earthquakes, fissures, and toxic gases have turned this tropical paradise into hell for some. >> you can't compare it to anything. >> reporter: mark claussen lives among the lobbing lava bombs. what's it like to see that? >> kind of get used to it, but frankly it was a little unnerving. >> reporter: the eruption raising new health concerns over sulfur dioxide venting into the air. locals also bracing for ash fall. >> it's so thick, and you can't

breathe. >> reporter: with geologists warning of more explosions, geysers of fire threaten homes around the clock. even at a safe distance from the fissures, you can feel the ground shake and hear what sounds like a jet engine overhead. lava has been shooting out of the ground for two weeks here. kilauea's fire and fury met by a blast of smoke and ash with a warning more may be on the way. after the blast at kilauea's craters, geologists say that could be the first and last one or it could be the beginning in a series. they simply don't know. meantime here in residential neighborhoods, you can see those fissures are still incredibly active. geysers of lava shooting into the air. columns of toxic smoke drifting through this area. philip, back to you. >> miguel, thank you. we are just one day out from the big day. we're talking about the royal wedding of prince harry and meghan markle.

the couple was spotted arriving in windsor yesterday for their rehearsal, making their way to windsor castle. now flying atop the castle is the royal standard, indicating the queen is in residence. but here's the big question. who's going to walk meghan down the aisle? here's nbc's kelly cobiella. >> reporter: the bride and groom are in windsor. prince harry and meghan markle arriving at the castle. the bride looking serene. the days of drama surrounding her father now settled. in a statement, meghan said sadly my father will not be attending our wedding. i've always cared for my father and hope he can be given the station he tompt thomas pulling out of the wed after a media fire storm after staged photos. so now a wedding planned with military precision, including parade practice with one key detail still up in the air. who will walk meghan down the aisle? her mother, doria ragland, will be her only family attending the

wedding. >> i think if she doesn't walk down with doria, it will be a member of the royal family, possibly prince william, possibly even prince william as best man. >> harry will be feeling another absence. >> it's days like today where i miss having her around. >> reporter: the couple placing memories of diana all around them. her favorite white roses in the chapel decorations. diane in's brother and two sisters there among the guests. and two of her diamonds in meghan's engagement ring. >> the little diamonds on the side are from my mother's jewelry collection to make sure she's with us on this crazy journey together. >> thanks to kelly for that report. let's get over to cal perry with more on this royal wedding from london. good morning, cal. >> reporter: good morning, philip. 100,000 people in and on the ground and ready for the wedding. many of them are showing a lot of sympathy. take a listen. >> i'm very sorry for her, but it can't be helped. you know, something like a heart

problem, you've got to deal with it, don't you? he certainly couldn't travel all that way with it. i hope the man walks down the aisle. >> very sadly, obviously, mr. markle will not be at the wedding but the show must go on. some quick wedding by the numbers here. we're talking about 600 guests are going to be actually at the ceremony. 200 at the reception. six bridesmaids, four page boys, one best man. the best man there obviously the brother, the future king. 100,000 spectators. 1,200 invited members of the public. 200 members of the armed forces. skpurt is going to be out of control. some of the trains even will be diverted out of windsor. >> one very excited correspondent there in london by the name of cal perry, who is over the moon about it all. >> yes. i'll be right here. >> cal, thank you. this morning, the president is doubling down on his controversial remark that has

democrats and mexico in an uproar after mr. trump referred to undocumented immigrants coming across the southern border as animals. the president contends he made the remark in reference to the violent ms-13 gang members streaming through. >> ms-13. these are animals. they're coming into our country. we're getting them out. when the ms-13 comes in, when the other gang members come into our country, i refer to them as animals. and guess what, i always will. >> still mexico's foreign minister is calling out the trump administration, telling the state department the comment is unacceptable. while democrats are capitol hill are seizing on the remark, blasting the president. mr. trump made the comment during a roundtable discussion on california's sanctuary practice after a sheriff brought up ms-13 gang members. a tee ballplayer with special needs as become an internet sensation. it wasn't just hitting a home run that got him applause. look at his dance moves coming up here. he stole the show as he stunned

spectators with a celebrity dance just moments before getting to home plate. billy has down's syndrome. he was playing for the first time in the league of yes. that's a sports group for children with disabilities. the league's founder posted the video to social media showing off billy's fun side. it's been viewed over 2.5 million times on facebook. >> billy's got some moves, some rhythm. we're not looking so great when it comes to the weather. >> those weekend plans outdoors are -- especially today. i mean it's pouring this morning from richmond to washington, d.c. through southern portions of new jersey. the flood watch includes roughly about 24 million people and the heaviest rain is specialed in the mid-atlantic region. ohio valley has got a chance of showers and storms. by 5:00 p.m., hit and miss storms from raleigh to washington, d.c. the rain does arrive in new york city up to new england for your

saturday. it will continue through saturday afternoon in many areas of the northeast. sunday looks a little bit better. maybe that thing called the sun will auallyct thunderstorms. the heaviest rain is this morning from richmond right through delaware. the weekend will be a little bit better. >> i like that. >> a little bit better. it won't be as heavy rain. fast forward for you. a huge prince fan? well, today you can get your hands on some of the music icon's priceless possessions with some of his guitars, costumes and handwritten lyrics going up for sale. tomorrow on nbc, it's the preakness stakes in baltimore, second leg of the triple crown. leading the pack will be the odds on favorite and kentucky

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one nose at a time. because every. one. counts. walgreens, trusted since 1901. he's being called australia's man with a golden arm. that's 81-year-old james harrison. he's been donating blood and saving lives for 60 years. harrison has a rear antibody that's used in a medication given to pregnant woman whose blood types are incompatible with their unborn children. it's estimated he's saved up to 2 million moms and babies and now he has given his 1,000 173rd blood donation. that's the last he'll ever give now that he's reached australia's maximum donor age. a bionic arm. magic arm too and blood. >> hats off to you. the transportation security administration, they've been compiling an all new secret watch list. the agency says the 95 list

contains a registry of people who have gotten rough with tsa in recent years. they're calling it a safeguard list. let's go to nbc's tom costello for more on this new secret list. >> reporter: the tsa's new watch list is called the 95 list. separate from the terror watch list, it's the tsa's own list of passengers who become physical with the tsa officer in the past, including spitting, punching, swatting at, assaulting or injuring an officer. so far, out of 2.5 million passengers each day, only a handful are on the list. >> there are less than 50 people on this list, and the intent was we were seeing an alarming increase in the number of assaults against our officers. >> reporter: the tsa insists it will press charges anytime an officer is assaulted. in 2016, 26 officers were assaulted. last year, 34. the tsa says a verbal exchange with an officer will not get a passenger on the 95 list. the process, meant to get airport tsa staff a heads up

that a passenger with a history could be coming, though still cleared to fly and not subject to extra screening. civil rights advocates warn passengers aren't notified if they're added to the list and therefore can't petition to get off. >> the tsa can also target people who are, quote, unquote, publicly notorious, and that's a very broad definition. we don't know who falls into that category of people. >> reporter: still, the tsa says the 95 list is all about protecting both passengers and screening officers. tom costello, nbc news, washington. still ahead, the whole laur laurel yanny thing. the white house is weighing in next. it helped keep people alive and out of the hospital. don't take entresto if pregnant. it can cause harm or death to an unborn baby. don't take entresto with an ace inhibitor or aliskiren, yanny

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a romantic comedy. a romantic movie. >> the top of the empire state building. >> ghost. >> most famous movie alien. >> e.t. >> two e.t.'s doing pottery. >> and it's not the winter time. >> summer. >> where is the sunshine? >> beach. >> one, you can't unsee that. >> and it's surprisingly sexy. >> please close that curtain. >> i love the two of them together, jimmy fallon, tina y fey.

great stuff. >> they're gold together. the battle between team yanny and team laurel still raging on. even the white house is weighing in. >> so clearly laurel. >> it's laurel. but i could deflect and divert to yanny if you need me to. >> it's been reported that you hear laurel. how do you respond? >> clearly you're getting your information from cnn because that's fake news. all i hear is yanny. >> who's yanny? >> i hear cofefe. >> so clearly. >> the white house staff clearly divided as the rest of the nation here but showing a bit of their light he hearted side, even their sense of humor. i kind of like seeing them like that. >> i've never seen them like that before. it took yanny and laurel to get a smile out of her and him. >> i've never seen that expression on their faces before. >> wow. it's bringing the world together. my goodness. former nba superstar shaquille o'neal is selling his florida mansion, and it's about as shaqqed up as you think.

31,000 square feet, this home. it overlooks the butler chain of lakes in a prestigious private golf club community. $20 million. huge outdoor swimming complex. movie theater, custom basketball court and all the superman logos you can possibly handle. if you ever wonder what kind of bed a 7'1" man sleeps onn, the answer is one, circular one, 15 feet wides. >> that say whole resort right there. you're watching "early today." but now it's our turn to take control with stelara® stelara® works differently for adults with moderately to severely active crohn's disease. studies showed relief and remission, with dosing every 8 weeks. stelara® may lower the ability of your immune system to fight infections and may increase your risk of infections and cancer. some serious infections require hospitalization. before treatment, get tested for tuberculosis. before or during treatment, always tell your doctor if you think you have an infection

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here's one way to flex on the golf course. this is olympic curler matt hamilton at the vfw charity pro am in south carolina. he's using the actual gold medal that he won in pyeongchang as a ball marker on the green. that's huge. the move even overshadowed the head to toe star-spangled outfit he was wearing. he should wear that curling. that's awesome. maybe his mom made it for him. let's get into this forecast for the weekend. heavy rain moving up the east coast continues to be the story. could get some strong storms around omaha, maybe even some wind damage with those strong storms. for the weekend on sunday, leftover showers on the east coast. history making first for a woman on capitol hill and virtual graduation for a sick teen. helping millions of children here at home... and around the world...

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we know that your saturday is going to be completely booked watching the meghan and harry wedding, but willie geist has a packed show and an amazing guest on sunday today that will have you glued to your tv set. why don't you tell them what you have in store for us? >> reporter: good morning, guys. this week on sunday today, my guest is laura dern. i talk with the emmy and golden globe winning actress about growing up in hollywood as the daughter of movie stars. her big year that's included a role in "star wars" and the breakout hbo hit big little lies including what's ahead in season two, and her intense new hbo movie, the tale. my sunday sit-down with laura dern plus all the latest news and politics this weekend on

sunday today. frances and philip, send it back to you and i will see you on sunday. >> thank you. have a great weekend. the central intelligence agency has a new chief. gina haspel was confirmed by the senate, becoming the first woman to lead the spy agency despite concerns among democrats and some republicans about her role in the cia's enhanced interrogation program, which critics have denounced as torture. during her hearing, haspel vowed not to revive those tactics. on the one-year anniversary of the mueller investigation, president trump is accusing the justice department of planting a mole in his campaign. the president took to twitter yesterday repeating those claims that his campaign was under surveillance, saying, quote, wow, word seems to be coming out that the obama fbi spied on the trump campaign with an embedded informant. if so, this is bigger than watergate. his tweet appears to be in direct response to an interview with former prosecutor andrew mccarthy on "fox & friends." and this morning "the washington post" is now reporting those claims are all a

part of a growing effort from the trump team to discredit the russia investigation by outing that alleged fbi informant. after the informant reportedly provided information during the 2016 campaign as the fbi began its investigation into russian election interference. according to the post, trump allies believe revealing details about the source could help them challenge the special counsel probe. one alabama high school senior was too sick to attend her graduation so her school came up with another plan. cynthia was able to use a robot to remotely attend her graduation ceremony when she was hospitalized. the robot dressed in a cap and gown right there glided across the stage as cynthia looked on and virtually walked with the school's class of 2018. how cool is that? >> kind of weird but very cool. when nature calls, sometimes you just can't hold it in. but this might inspire you to hold off a little bit longer when you are on the road. a smartphone app gas buddy ranked the top gas station restrooms in every single state

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